Ramirez, Estrada, Rupprecht Make Weight; Commey Slightly Over Limit For ESPN Show From Fresno
BY
JAKE DONOVAN
Published Fri Mar 24, 2023, 03:58 PM EDT
UPDATE (5:19 PM ET): Boxing Scene has confirmed that Commey returned within the allotted two-hour time limit and weighed 140 pounds on his final attempt.
Jose Ramirez was in championship mode despite the absence of a major title at stake.
The former unified junior welterweight champ was right at the 140-pound divisional limit for his crossroads bout with Richard Commey. Their scheduled 12-round bout headlines an ESPN tripleheader Saturday evening from Save Mart Arena in Fresno, California.
Commey was 140.4 pounds after stripping down to his birthday suit following an initially announced weight of 140.6 pounds. He will have two hours to shed 0.4 pounds to avoid a fine from the California State Athletic Commission for failure to comply with the contracted limit.
Ramirez (27-1, 17KOs) fights in Fresno for the tenth time, having long served as a popular figure in his home Central Valley region. The former unified WBC/WBO junior welterweight titlist fought in this very venue in his most recent ring appearance, a twelve-round win over former two-division titlist Jose Pedraza last March 4.
The win was believed to lead to a shot at the vacant WBC 140-pound title. However, the timing of his already planned wedding forced him to bow out of an ordered title fight rematch versus Jose Zepeda. Longtime divisional rival Regis Prograis stepped in and stopped Zepeda in the eleventh round of their vacant title fight last November 26 in Carson, California.
A prior agreement was honored by the WBC, who ordered Prograis-Ramirez. Talks fell flat and a purse bid never saw the light of day when Ramirez’s side balked at the modified proposal of a 65-35 split in Prograis’ favor.
It led to his next facing Commey (30-4-1, 27KOs).
The 36-year-old former IBF lightweight titlist from The Bronx, New York by way of Ghana has not won since a sixth-round knockout of Jackson Marinez in February 2021. He has since suffered a twelve-round loss to former three-division titlist Vasiliy Lomachenko in December 2021 and fought Pedraza to a ten-round, split-decision draw last August 27 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
A strawweight unification bout is in play for the co-feature. It required Seniesa Estrada to come correct in her second attempt at the scales.
The two-division titlsit and reigning WBA strawweight champ was 104.2 pounds during a second-weigh-in, dropping a full pound after officially weighing 105.2 pounds. The East Los Angeles native was initially 0.4 pounds over the limit before removing her weigh-in attire but shed the extra weight barely 30 minutes after the ceremony.
Estrada is now set to attempt the third defense of the title for which she recently celebrated her two-year anniversary as champ.
Germany’s Rupprecht (12-0-1, 3KOs) was 104.8 pounds as she aims to make the sixth defense of the WBC title she has held since 2018. Estrada—a two-division titlist—celebrated her two-year anniversary on Monday as WBA 105-pound queen.
Opening the televised tripleheader, Antonio Mireles (6-0, 6KOs) of Des Moines, Iowa was 265.4 pounds for his scheduled six-round heavyweight bout versus Patrick Mailata (6-1, 3KOs), a 28-year-old Samoan based in Utah who was 321.4 pounds.
Below are the weights for the preliminary undercard, which airs live on ESPN+ beginning at 6:55 p.m. ET/3:55 p.m. PT.
Raymond Muratalla (16-0, 13KOs), Fontana, California, 136.6 pounds vs. Humberto Galindo (14-2-1, 11KOs), Tijuana, 136 pounds—10 rounds, lightweight
Charlie Sheehy (5-0, 4KOs), Brisbane, California, 134.8 pounds vs. Angel Rebollar (6-1, 3KOs), California, 133.4 pounds—6 rounds, lightweight
Jessie James Guerrero (3-0-1, 3KOs), Salinas, California, 109 pounds vs. Eduardo Alvarez (0-2, 0KOs), Long Beach, California, 108.6 pounds—4 rounds, junior flyweight
Ricardo Ruvalcaba (7-0-1, 6KOs), Ventura, California, 140.8 pounds vs. Marco Cardenas (9-7-1, 4KOs), Salem, Oregon, 140.4 pounds—6 rounds, junior welterweight
Subaru Murata (3-0, 3KOs), Tokyo, 121.6 pounds vs. Jose Negrete (2-1, 2KOs), Hanford, California, 121.4 pounds—4 rounds, junior featherweight
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